Quick and easy meals

[Amyw Profile]

This time of year is normally a bit manic for a lot of us , so a few of my dinners recently have been grab and go .

A few quick dinners I tend to knock up are

Omelettes with various fillings

Stir fries - most supermarkets tend to do stir fry deals which normally eat do enough for lunch the next day too for about ten minutes cook time

Pasta - in many forms . The other day I had some good spinach and ricotta tortellini from Tesco’s with a quick sauce made from tinned tomatoes , olives and garlic , reduced down a bit .

Jacket potatoes - though they take an hour to cook , in terms of actual prep time it’s minute . Stick the potato in the oven, grate some cheese and get on and do whatever needed for an hour while it cooks

What are everyone’s quick standbys?

[Badger's Mate Profile]

I tend to have a lot of portioned leftovers in the freezer, in old takeaway containers. They are quick and easy to reheat if I remember to take them out of the freezer in time. Particular favourites would be curry with paratha, colly risotto, pasta with reheated sauce, stuffed badger.

Otherwise toast with something (egg, cheese, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms or spreads) - I also keep odds and ends of bread or yellow-stickered crumpets in the freezer for this eventuality.

Jackets - often cooked with malice aforethought when the oven's on for something else, reheated and topped with cheese & beans.

Bread and something, I make a loaf overnight, the work is done after the day is done and before bedtime. Reheated soup, a tin of fish, dips.

[Amyw Profile]

Yeah I’m quite a fan of a “picky” meal . Decent bread, wedge of cheese, apple, maybe some olives

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

This, I always struggle with.
Even my chicken and mushroom soup takes 25-30mins.

With advance prep, I can make my time in the kitchen before eating fairly quick. But it all adds up.

I find stove top time consuming.
So the "quickest" I come up with is oven cooking. Preparing meatballs for example. And putting them into the oven (small microwave combi) for 45mins.
Taking hot cooked oven dish to table.

That's the easiest I can do quick meals anyway.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Amy, the frozen McCain's jacket potatoes are really good and you usually find them on offer somewhere. 6 mins in the microwave.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I freeze my own bracket spuds. Works well. And in emergency I use the baked potato setting on the combi oven (8 minutes)

I too tend to do “here’s one I made earlier” and pull something out of the freezer, but eggs are quick - omelettes, shakshuka made with a veg stew from the freezer, just poached eggs on marmite toast.

Or a fish finger sandwich

[jeral Profile]

A typical lunch quickie is packet soup, or bouillon with tamari (soy sauce) added, enhanced with whatever I fancy, e.g. veg bits (fridge or freezer), tinned pulses, packet noodles, frozen prawns/mussels, egg strands. Under 10 mins.

Fish fillet takes only a few minutes if fresh or defrosted. Veg can be added if poaching or be cooked separately. I like fish fingers but tend to get distracted when supposedly watching them and let them burn.

If not counting time expended earlier to feed the freezer, staples like spud pieces or mash, rice, prepped and blanched veg.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

My go to quick meal is sardines in tomato sauce on toast. I’m not sure it would have filled me up when I was younger but it does now.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

Fish fingers would definitely be in the 'bread and things' section for us, but not as a sandwich 'cos we like mushy peas with them. We also have a version of shakshuka/eggs in purgatory, but with cheese grilled on top.

I would once have had either cheese on toast or a bacon sandwich, or toasted bread in front of the fire and had potted cheese or HM chicken liver pate with it.

[Joanbunting Profile]

It very much depend on the time of year and therefore the temperature. In the summer there are always olives, charcuterie plus radishes or salad from the garden and of course eggs.

In winter there are eggs, usually hm soup in the pot or in the freezer, ham and cheese.Fresh bread from the bakers and what more could you ask for?

[Pampy Profile]

Amy, the frozen McCain's jacket potatoes are really good and you usually find them on offer somewhere. 6 mins in the microwave.

I taste tested McCain's jacket spuds before they were available in the shops and thought they were dreadful! I haven't tried them since so don't know if they've improved.
My oven has a combi-microwave function which I use to make jackets - they only take a few minutes to cook and are little different to the "real thing".

[MagicMarmite Profile]

I have a huge freezer and batch cook, so there's usually something in there, tonight is bean chilli with grated cheese.
I also always have a breadcrumbed product, currently chicken nuggets that I serve with a variety of jarred/cupboard sauces, think ketchup, barbecue sauce, mustard, horseradish, mayo etc.
If I'm being really lazy I eat crisps, I always have several types in as I'm a bit of a crispaholic, 4 packets is dinner.

I do try not to eat total crap too often, I'm not overweight, quite the opposite but I know it's not good for me.

I do find it difficult at times, it just seems so pointless to cook for myself but I am getting better.

[Renee Profile]

I always have a packet of McCains Jacket Potatoes in the freezer. I microwave for 5 minutes, let them cool slightly and then slice them thickly. I use SprayLight on a Pyrex place, put the slices on the plate, then a few sprays with FryLight and a sprinkling of Jamie's herbs with salt and grill. I use my halogen oven, adding sliced tomatoes and mushrooms.

[Amyw Profile]

Kind of homemade oven chips then Renee? I’m intrigued by the McCains potatoes . I’m really fussy with my jackets , but there do seem to be a few good reviews out there for them

[Badger's Mate Profile]

With lots of spuds to get through, we often have HM wedges. I tend to do them in the combi oven, with oil, S&P, paprika and a sprinkling of herbs or za'atar.

[Renee Profile]

Amy, the McCains Jackets are slow-baked and are of even size. They do have the flavour of slow baked potatoes but don't have the crispy skins which doesn't bother me. People do crisp them up under a grill if they want to. I do get crispy skins when I slice them and use the halogen, also the flavours with the salt and herbs.

[Amyw Profile]

Ah you see I love a crispy skin , so don’t think they’d be for me

[DEB Profile]

While not real quick, I am a fan of my slow cooker throw every thing in, leave and some time later, 4 to 9 hours depending what it is, stir and serve. In that time I am hands free to do what I need to do in the run up to Christmas, go shopping or even to work.

[Sakkarin Profile]

This has to be one of the easiest meals ever, my breakfast this morning, with my newly prepared Lap Yuk.

Just throw the raw Lap Yuk in with the rice, and cook your rice as normal. Done.

I cheated a bit, I added some crispy fried shallot.

[Amyw Profile]

Is that the Chinese bacon you were making Sakkarin ?